In my teens, period pain caused me a lot of discomfort as they do to any other girl that age. One home remedy that really gave me relief was fennel water. This is a simple remedy which one of my aunts gave me when heavy flow and pain made me bedridden every month.

For years I never questioned the efficacy of the fennel seeds since it worked perfectly well for me. However, as I grew older my inquisitiveness compelled me to look deep and understand whether the seeds really helped me or was it just a pseudo effect. To my surprise, I did find studies published in journals that said fennel seeds actually help to reduce menstrual pain in young girls.

In the Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynaecology, a study published in the year 2014 showed that when fennel was used to treat primary dysmenorrhea symptoms it showed promising results. In the study, 80 female students were divided into two groups. One group was given fennel seeds in capsule (30 gm) form every four hours for three days before menstruation till the 5th day for three months. The other group was given no medications as such. The severity of samples of pain was graded using a visual analogue scale.

It was noticed at the end of the study that the mean of nausea intensity and weakness decreased to 1.93, and 2.88 after 3 months in women who had the capsules, whereas they were 2.37, 6.65 in control group which indicated a significant difference. Symptoms of pain also reduced considerably.

This shows that fennel seeds do work to help alleviate menstrual pain and keep your energies up during that period.